A. It is the
home of 'Rita Bennett' (played by Julie Benz), Dexter's girlfriend, and
her two children.

Dexter
is an emotionally stunted serial killer, who doesn't really understand
love or normal human relationships, so to maintain the illusion of normalcy,
he deliberately chooses Rita as his pretend girlfriend (because Rita was
also reluctant to engage in sex, following her breakup with an abusive
husband).

Eventually,
Dexter is surprised to see the relationship become more than he expected.

We see Rita's
home in almost every episode of Season One, beginning with Episode 1, "Dexter"
. It also shows up frequently in both Season Two
and Season Three, until the two are finally
married and move into a new home in Season 4.

It is where
Dexter spends most of his spare time (when he's not working for the police
department or killing someone). It's where he hangs out with Rita, where
he plays with her two children, and where he encounters her hostile ex-husband,
Paul.

It's also where
Paul tries to rape Rita later in the season, and where Dexter whacks him
over the head with a skillet.

Q.
What is it actually in real life?

A. An actual
house, but far from Miami.

Q.
Where can I find it in real life?

A. The house
is actually at 2348 San Anseline Avenue,
in Long Beach, California. It's on the east side of San Anseline
(midway between 23rd Street & Vernon Street), in a residential neighborhood
known as 'Los Altos'.

It's hard to
see the left side of the house on the show, because the producers put up
a fake, salmon-colored, block wall in front, along with some palm trees
& extra foliage. The house looks slightly different in person,
since that block wall and those palms aren't really there.

I
shot the photo below in Dec. 2007

[
Warning: This is a private home. Do not
knock on their door, trespass on their property,
or do anything else that might disturb the residents. ]

A. Back in 2006,
my friend, Long Beach Press-Telegram columnist Tim Grobaty,
mentioned in his daily column that Showtime was filming a new show called
"Dexter" in Long Beach, on San Anseline Ave.
So, once I began looking for Rita's house, I naturally started my search
on San Anseline. To make it even easier, the street number of the house
next door was visible during the scene with nasty
neighbor. So it was just a matter of checking LiveLocal
maps & aerial photos to pinpoint the exact house on the block,
and then a trip to the neighborhood in person to verify that I had the
right place. (Thanks, Tim.)